MTNL is a Government Owned PSU Telecom/Wireless/Internet Communication Services Provider. But what they may have achieved with telephone connectivity which as we all know is a much publicized & renowned achievement but the same cannot be synonymous with their Wired/Wireless Internet Services which by the way are another kettle of fish indeed! We’ll go into the reasons in detail but this paragraph symbolizes my intent plus adds yards of substance to the tag line & heading if you get my meaning!
MTNL Triband or Broadband Services were launched with much fanfare over 5 years ago or so I think when TRAI defined true definition of Broadband as anything above 256kbps qualified as Broadband & anything below this is Narrowband or Dial-Up. Of late TRAI has again revised its terms which means now only speeds of 2Mbps & above qualify as Broadband & everything else fall into the range of Narrowband! Ref # [https://alturl.com/vf3mk]. What relevance does this have to do with MTNL, you might ask but I’m just trying to serve up a basic background & understanding of the facts of Internet Connectivity so readers are kept informed.
Now MTNL operates in both Narrow & Broadband range with Broadband Speeds expected to go upwards of 10Mbps as enhanced Fiber to Home Connectivity Ref # [https://alturl.com/xiqn6] which according to me is pipelined but not available for public consumption yet. So for the present, we’ll stick with what is readily provisioned or likely to be provisioned as per a subscription or membership of MTNL! So much for the Internet background & understanding!
How would MTNL compare to other ISP’s? Well, with the advent of High Speed Broadband coming into picture & here we’re talking of speeds like 500Mbps & above, MTNL has outshone its nearest competition from the likes of Sify Broadband (now defunct); You Broadband (presence in some circles) & a host of several smaller players which have faded away as Mobile Internet Connectivity boasts of much faster Gigahertz processors, Smart Cards & Internal Modems. So is MTNL able to deliver the goods? Yes, if you are a basic user spending more time on mail, basic chat, browsing, downloading music, video clips then this service as per current speeds is perfect.
Also consuming speeds upto 2Mbps (assuming it’s provisioned & easily available) won’t burn much of a hole in your pocket at all. With prices for 1 Mbps unlimited hovering around Rs.1500 & for 2Mbps, Rs, 1750/- this is perfect for a basic home or family user. However these being unlimited packages, you won’t ever have to worry about accounting for upload or download speed and how much it eats into your limits. No freebies here though like any static IP Address/es or EMail account/s though. Higher end Speeds which you would surely need if you’re into Video Chat/Conferencing/Skype/Online Movie Streaming, HD Video Download or Playback are very expensive & unaffordable for example a 4Mbps unlimited package costs Rs.10, 000 per month & Rs.1 lakh a year! Which consumer will be ready to pay such charges without a Fair Usage Policy for important & relevant Internet needs. [https://mtnlmumbai.in/index.php/unlimited-plan}
So, you may ask what’s the problem with MTNL? With speeds still stuck at 2Mbps & not many takers for the unaffordable 4Mbps, lots of competition has made merry not just by entering but exposing & breaking this deadlock! Reliance Broadband, Airtel Broadband, Hathway Cable & Internet have already made suitable inroads into the a fledgling market that was MTNL’s for the taking. These operators have speeds going up as much as 20Mbps which are lightning speeds for Broadband & makes it possible to upload content quickly as well besides downloads & streaming. However most of these offers do come with a much needed catch that no one offers any unlimited services but instead offer limited plans also named as Data Transfer which there is a restricted download limit. Cross the same at your peril & your Broadband speed will come down several notches to the basic broadband speeds [1/2Mbps]. This is the Fair Usage policy restriction created to prevent unnecessary loss of bandwidth but to ensure availability & on demand to all Subscribers of that ISP. Till the time that MTNL rates don’t fall within this ambit, it’s very difficult to make a fair & uniform judgement. So at that we’ll leave it for now
I wouldn’t like to call these flaws which wouldn’t be fair because one man’s meat is another man’s poison in every true sense of the word. So, in order to put it succinctly, I’d say these are area of lots of opportunity for MTNL to improve & recondition their offers to push & repel the big players often
• Basic Speeds - Unless MTNL gets its act together into the big lane, 1/2Mbps will become obsolete & 4/5 will be basic plus 7/8 Mbps desirable & 10/12Mbps exceptional. Does MTNL have any plans in it stable to contend with such? Perhaps FTH will be an avenue towards this endeavor
• Site Uploads - With basic speeds in the Narrow Band & DSL range/s many Videos on YouTube, Daily Motion, Tubehome will fail to perform at the best pixels of picture & bitrates of sound. Personal experience tells me that anything under 1Mbps will not play any videos without stalling & unbuffered HD Videos will never be seen on any speeds under 10Mbps! So this is a real challenge for MTNL but also their biggest opportunity area as well. Is anyone listening from the FTH department
• Poor Customer Service/Helpline - If there was any evidence of a laidback, lacklustre & lethargic culture in this era & age, then this terra firma. For even simple things like Plan Migration, Slow Speed, Connectivity Issues, the process is very cumbersome & non-existent. An example, when I needed to upgrade my plan from 1Mbps/Unlimited/INR.1500 to 2Mbps/Unlimited/INR.1700, I was told after numerous follow-ups that this would only happen from the subsequent month!! Archaic, bizarre, tyrannical & oppressive rules are the name of the game here & one should be forewarned!
• Intermittent Connectivity & Latency - MTNL Connectivity can be a very painful, slow & cumbersome process. One can’t pinpoint where & why the connectivity drops ever so often but then again does with increasing severity.There are chances that during evening prime time, unresponsive connection can really fry your brains & you won’t know what do. Believe me, I’ve been in that frame of mind with nothing to turn to
• Incompatibility with Social Media Websites - On Social Media Platforms like Linkedin, Twitter & Facebook, you need a trustworthy, reliable, fast & dependable internet connection because you surely don’t want the hassle of being disconnected, page freezes, or other errors. In these forums information like bits & bytes, basic building blocks travel at lightning speeds so you have to be ahead. I’ve seen several instances of inconsistency, failure & breakdown on Facebook, Orkut etc so there’s some food for thought here
• Incomplete Information - Bills/Invoices don’t give you a clue how/when/what/where you downloaded probably because its an Unlimited Package but it would surely help to get itemized billing for a valued service. Also Internet Usage is clubbed with your telephone bill as Broadband comes as an offshoot of your telephone service so if your telephone call details are available, shouldn’t your Broadband also be??